Sedges With Sam Hoadley-A Way to Garden With Margaret Roach January 16, 2023

With the surge in interest in lawn alternatives and other native choices for groundcover, the genus Carex is always mentioned high up on the list. But which of these grass light perennials, most of them labeled as best suited to shade, can actually substitute for lawn, and which sedges can serve other landscape roles? 

A four-year trial at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware, the renowned native plant garden and research facility, sought to get at those answers and others. 

Sam Hoadley is manager of Horticultural Research at Mt. Cuba, where he and the team trialed 70 different Carex over a four-year period, and Sam's report on the findings will be published on the Mt. Cuba website this week. 

Plus he's teaching a virtual class on February 1 on these important native plants, too. 

Before joining Mt. Cuba, Sam was Lead Horticulturist for Longwood Gardens’ hillside garden, and he received his degree in Sustainable Landscape Horticulture from University of Vermont.